We live in a world (occident) dominated by consumerism. There's not much you or I can do about it. For one thousand people taking steps to soften the burden of those in dire economical distress, there will always be a million other people not giving a damn and thinking about their material confort.

I myself am not interested in material things, much. I only live with the minimum required (fridge, stove, oven, toilets, laptop...). It's not much at all and is largely enough to live a good (great) life. The money I get, I spend mostly on food, booze, cigarets and gifts to my loved ones. So no real major guilt for me there.

But I also keep in mind that those being exploited for the making of material goods are not my personal responsibility. Sure, I am part of this system, but the main entities responsible for this state of affair are, in my opinion, governments and corporations. If there is a correct action to take, it would probably be to put pressure on those. But boycotting a product, for exemple, would never work because, as I stated above, for a thousand activists there will always be a million dont-give-a-fuck-ers.

You can live in a yurt and eat home-made goatcheese, but it will never stop corporations to slave poor people on the other side of the planet.

One of my live guitarists is a communist, and a vegetarian. He used to love meat but decided to stop eating any. When arguying with him, he just told me "I might not make a difference now, but with time more people will probably join me". Nice, if a bit utopic, bordering on ubris. But at least he feels very good with himself.

Each to his/her own, I guess...

PS: It is quite possible I haven't a clue what you're talking about and just commited a major OT. But I don't care, so there!

--------------"Hail is made out of water? Are you really that stupid?" Joe G

"I have a better suggestion, Kris. How about a game of hide and go fuck yourself instead." Louis

"The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bullshit" Richard Pryor